When Friendship Is Forbidden, Love Prevails
by kathlaida-princess
Summary: WHAT IF..." No1, What if Takeru were a professional murderer and Kari was his target? A small Takari and PataGato AU Alternative Universe There's a better summary inside! :
1. A Day In the Life of a Murderer

**WHEN FRIENDSHIP IS FORBIDDEN, LOVE PREVAILS**

**By kathlaida-princess**

**Summary: **Story number one of the "What if...?" series. What if Takeru were a professional murderer and Kari was his target? Takeru Takaishi, captain of the secret alien Luna Group and professional murderer, is sent to Earth to destroy the reason of their disgrace, a young detective called Hikari Kamya. But his arrival brought an accident that may change his plans completely, throwing a lifetime of teachings out of the window. A small Takari that shows us that sometimes there are bad things that happen for good reasons. Takari and PataGato.

**Disclaimer: **This time, I just don't own the Digimon characters. The plotline and most of the places are mine!

**Author's Notes: **Hello, dear readers! Yes, this is another Takari story, but this one is completely AU. For a while now, I've been imagining a series of small, most of them light, Takari AU stories whose initial situation derives from a simple question beginning with "What if...". My main purpose is to create a happy ending for T.K. and Kari in every story, no matter how bad the situation is. The question of this story is "What if Takeru were a professional murderer and Kari was his target?" and I hope you do like this idea and, of course, this fic. You can give suggestions under the form of "What if..." questions in your reviews, I'd appreciate that a lot! :) Thank you for your time, here comes the story!

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**CHAPTER 1**

**A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MURDERER**

Many look up to the stars, to the infinitude of the universe, and see nothing but an endless sea of darkness and loneliness, never believing that someone, in that very moment, might be lost among those shiny dots, looking back at them.

How they are wrong…

The Earth, in all its beauty and uniqueness, is not unique at all when it comes to bearing life. Most of those stars one can look up to are surrounded by one or many life-bearing planets, filled to the brim with many different living beings, none of them really human, however alike us. The universe on its own is a humongous and very diverse ecosystem, with many wonders yet to be discovered. Or could we really believe that, with the little knowledge we have, we are alone in this universe?

And what kind of living beings are we talking about? Well, all kinds. They all are very similar in basic shape and biology to Earth's inhabitants, but each planet's specific environment has leaded them all to evolve differently from what we are used to see, making almost every imaginable creature exist. There are planets were they can't breathe oxygen, there are planets where creatures are completely made of all kinds of stone instead of flesh and bone, there are planets where water has been completely replaced by other liquids, there are planets whose living beings seem to have been taken from a horror movie and there are planets that are almost identical to Earth, except for their language, their politics, their geography.

Do each planet's inhabitants travel around space? Are there such things as UFOs? It's true, most planets have evolved so much in technology that they are able to go across the universe in (not flying saucers but) spaceships and meet other planets. In fact, the Earth is one of the youngest planets of said group, that is why space travel is still a distant perspective here.

Do those visitors mean us harm? Of course not. The Earth is relatively distant from other life-bearing planets, so there aren't many visitors, but those who come know how to respect us and usually keep away from trouble. But there are many humans who have contacted them and are aware of the actual enormity of the universe, and they help us to keep good relations with other planets. Planets, however, do not start wars against each other. One planet alone needs constant care and attention, a war would be a disaster to all. Still, keeping good relations is essential, especially when a planet needs help.

Our story first took place in a planet called Kalatheia, one of the most evolved life-bearing planets in the Milky Way. It was silver where the Earth is blue and it was grey where the Earth is green or brown. It was very prosperous and completely industrialized, but the obvious clarity of the sky showed no traces of pollution. It was ruled by Prince Fergus (now King), the only heir to the late king, who, some believed, had committed a terrible act of injustice before his death. Its inhabitants were very similar to humans, except for their unearthly pale skin-tone and their eyes with vertical pupils.

The planet was at peace, but a secret rebellious organization kept attacking it imperceptibly, wanting to make justice for the king's (believed) unfair decision of expelling them from Kalatheia a long time ago. That organization was called the Luna Group and had its headquarters in a gigantic yet undetected spaceship which constantly orbited the planet. All of them lived in the ship, with very different jobs and tasks. Some of them merely maintained the place while others thought of plans to attack Fergus's rule or raided the planet to steal the essential goods they needed. That's why there were many smaller ships connected to the main one.

One member of that third group was in one of those smaller spaceships, heading to Kalatheia. He had already crossed the planet's atmosphere and he was simply enjoying the beautiful view.

The sky really looked magnificent at that time of the night, when the industrialized part of Kalatheia was totally immerged in darkness and the millions of stars across the space provided its only natural light, reflected on his bright blue eyes. It was his great dream to explore those stars he knew filled with life, to one day be free to return home, wherever that might be. But Takeru's thoughts were interrupted by a monotonous, boring beep from the ship's control panel.

"Captain, we should be able to land now," an acute voice said.

"Yes, BatPig, I'm coming," Takeru answered, lazily coming to the front of the ship. His partner, who really fit his name, looked like an orange pig without a nose, but he hadn't a spiraled tail and his orange ears looked like bat wings. He had gorgeous blue eyes, just like his, and wore a small black cape with a red crescent-moon symbol printed on it (the mark of the Luna Group), also similar to his.

The creature looked at the young man and asked, "You can call me Patamon, I trust you that much. You look awful! Do you want me to land?"

The other replied, while sitting on the pilot's seat, "No need, Patamon. And I still remember the state of the last ship you landed!"

"I was sleepy that day! The general made me work a lot the previous night…"

Takeru rolled his eyes and removed the ship from automatic pilot, starting the landing sequence towards the crowded planet. He was probably completely used to that, since his movements seemed to flow out of him in a mechanical way. The many grey buildings were coming closer and closer and the young man approached a ship parking lot. As the air vessel gently touched the ground, Takeru reviewed the plans for the night in his mind. Get in, find an eligible victim, do his job, use the money to get supplies and discreetly return home. Home. Not that it had real meaning to him, but it was the most suitable word at the moment.

The young man covered his distinctive golden-blond hair with a broad hat, not to be recognized as a human among Kalatheia's inhabitants, which was part of his disguise. He took his cape off, which hid perfectly normal, casual yet classy clothing, and he put what seemed to be a button inside one of his pockets, very carefully. Before leaving, Takeru turned to Patamon, "I'm ready. Please, take care of the ship while I'm gone. I won't be long." There were no traces of emotion in his voice, but something about his eyes could let one know that he'd rather not do whatever he was doing. Just following orders...

The orange creature nodded and the handsome human left, under the night's protective cloak, towards a nearby nightclub across a labyrinth of dim light-filled streets. No one looked suspiciously at him, no one would ever know he didn't belong there.

The activity inside the nightclub was chaotic at that time of the night, the entire crowd moving like a frantic group of scared bugs in rhythm with the lively music. This was good for Takeru: the bigger the confusion, the easier his job.

He bypassed the horde towards the bar, keeping a circumspect eye out for possible victims and, as soon as he sat down on one of the stools, he found one. She was beautiful, with her pale skin, slender body, transparent eyes, pitch-black long hair and equally dark long dress, dancing like the others. And the young man could tell she was rich, very rich. Perfect.

First step: he had to attract her to him. The blonde looked again at her, but very noticeably this time, smiling both timidly and desirously to grab her attention. He was clearly experimented on this, for the woman returned the same lustful look immediately after. The two remained like this for about one minute, until Takeru was sure she was interested in him. He then beckoned for her to join him and she left the dancing crowd with a broad smile, going gladly to him.

Second step: he needed to take her to somewhere secluded. As soon as she sat by his side, Takeru ordered a cup of hot chocolate (for him) and a glass of an exotic drink (for the woman). When they came, he smiled at the newcomer, saying, "Good evening, my lady. Let me first say that it is a pleasure to come all the way here just to see such thrilling dancing as yours. For that, you win this drink." At this, the blonde took the delicate glass and set it next to the woman with a gentle smile. She smiled even more gently and circled her own elegant fingers around the glass, bringing it slowly to her lips while saying, "Why thank you, kind sir. It is an honor to receive such compliment from someone like you…"

Takeru let out a light chuckle and sipped from his own hot chocolate cup noisily but, to the eyes of the woman, adorably too. And he made her giggle, for a not-so-thin trail of brownish foam remained, covering his upper lip. With another chuckle, the blonde motioned his hand with what seemed to be a calculated speed to grab a nearby handkerchief, but the woman swiftly placed her hand over his, having a better idea…

Drawing her face nearer to the human's beautiful eyes, she whispered, "I can take care of that…" and her lips locked his in a gripping, smoldering kiss, making not only the foam but also a considerable amount of his saliva disappear. After that grabbing moment, the blonde was ready to ask, "Would you… would you like going somewhere more private?"

And, her face beaming, she replied, "I can lead the way."

Third step: he had to kill her quickly and painlessly. The woman took his hand and guided him through the dancing crowd again, to an almost hidden back door which led to a completely deserted part of the street. Takeru thought that this certainly wasn't the first time she did that. The blonde took her other hand and kissed it. He was smiling when he said, "Here we are, then…" And they resumed their kissing.

The young man was already so used to doing it that he didn't need to see what he was doing anymore. While their mouths were set in their own exploration adventure, his hands traveled down to her waist and then his right hand entered one of his pockets, grabbing hold of that button-looking object. Now caressing her up to her shoulders, the blonde placed the button on the base of her neck, pressing it down after a long kiss.

The effect was immediate. Her whole body instantly stopped moving as if it had shut down completely. Takeru had to hold her tight to prevent her from falling and then laid her on the floor carefully. There was a strange mix of emotions twirling inside his eyes, as if this was something he really didn't want to do, but he still did everything perfectly and automatically. He checked her vital signs and closed her eyes before proceeding. She really was dead. He then shuffled inside her purse to get what he had killed her for: her money. And his knack to find the richest victims remained, for in his hands there was now enough money to buy two months worth of supplies for the entire Luna Group.

He said a prayer, guarded the button again and hid her beautiful corpse the best he could before leaving, as discreetly and normally as he had come in.

Takeru spent the rest of his time in Kalatheia shopping, acquiring small quantities of supplies in each store, not wanting to attract the other's attention to a rather exaggerated amount of food or weaponry he held while leaving just one shop.

He stopped by the ship every time before going to the next store and Patamon nodded approvingly every time. People didn't notice any of that, then or in any other time. People were just to distracted with their own lives and that was a good thing for the Luna Group.

When the shopping was over, Takeru returned to the ship for good and the orange creature noticed that he looked very absent-minded again. "You still look awful, Captain… Really, is there something wrong?"

But the blonde just shook his head, replying with great conviction, "Nah, it's just the girl was really pretty this time. It's a shame she is dead right now." He even managed to smile, while reading the ship again to take off. And Patamon seemed to be convinced. He laughed, "I see. Well, you brought a lot of stuff today. Maybe the General will be pleased and allow us to find a girlfriend next time we leave the headquarters!"

"Yeah, maybe…" the young human replied, as the ship left the ground beneath it and Kalatheia, that magnificent orb of silver, going towards the stars, towards another (yet much bigger) ship.

Takeru wasn't sure why he felt like that. He felt guilty every time he had to kill, but today it was more intense… Maybe he regretted the way he lived, maybe he wished he were never part of the Luna Group and, even though he knew he was doing the right thing helping them (for they had suffered such great injustice!), his heart kept yelling that something there was terribly wrong… Not to mention his loneliness, his lack of human company. It wasn't easy being a homeless and perfect women assassin… Especially for someone as good and pure-hearted as Takeru.

The Luna Group headquarters were right in front of the now, a humongous black ship with many doors, windows, and a huge red crescent-moon symbol drawn over it. It was protected with the most advanced security technology, and only the smaller ships like theirs could see, sense or reach that giant, making it undetectable to anyone outside the group.

It was Patamon who pressed the rest of the buttons to allow the smaller ship to enter the bigger one, while the blonde put on his cape again. When they were inside, next to the other many small ships with other Luna Group members, the two companions carried the supplies out and into the huge storeroom next to the hangar, pilling one box over the other. And when the job was finally done and Takeru was ready to go write his report in his own room (before a well-deserved night of sleep), another Luna Group member approached him with a message.

"Captain Takeru, I'm glad you arrived safely! The General wishes to see you," he announced.

"Is there something wrong?" the blonde asked, frowning.

"No. Apparently, he has a mission for you. A very special mission…"

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**END OF CHAPTER**

And this is it, for a first chapter! I wanted to add the Luna Group history, but then it will be too big, I will put it in the next one!

I sure hope this sounds promising!

Please, give me suggestions for more titles for the "What if…" series!

See you all next chapter!

kathlaida-princess logging out…


	2. Somewhere I Might Belong

**WHEN FRIENDSHIP IS FORBIDDEN, LOVE PREVAILS**

**By kathlaida-princess**

**Summary: **Story number one of the "What if...?" series. What if Takeru were a professional murderer and Kari was his target? Takeru Takaishi, captain of the secret alien Luna Group and professional murderer, is sent to Earth to destroy the reason of their disgrace, a young detective called Hikari Kamya. But his arrival brought an accident that may change his plans completely, throwing a lifetime of teachings out of the window. A small Takari that shows us that sometimes there are bad things that happen for good reasons. Takari and PataGato.

**Disclaimer: **This time, I just don't own the Digimon characters. The plotline and most of the places are mine!

**Author's Notes: **Hello again! I'm glad to see this idea to have a nice reception, and I'm really sorry for the delay. Vacations didn't allow me to write this earlier... As usual, I want to thank all of you for having read this and **SugarSprial **(or is it Spiral, it appeared like that on the alert... Anyway, thanks for showing me your forum!), **Lord Pata** (glad you liked the idea!) and **Minwolf **(that will be shown in this chapter ) for your kind reviews!

No more delays, on with the fic!

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**CHAPTER 2**

**SOMEWHERE I MIGHT BELONG**

"_Captain Takeru, I'm glad you arrived safely! The General wishes to see you,__" the man announced._

"_Is there something wrong?" the blonde asked, frowning._

"_No. Apparently, he has a mission for you. A very special mission…"_

* * *

The assassin called Takeru exchanged one last quizzical look with his orange winged companion before nodding and following the other man silently. BatPig (or Patamon, as he liked to be called) remained behind.

The human used every step of the way to wonder about this new mission. The General, who was both his boss and confidant, would never summon him for a mission without meeting with the other captains at the conference room first. Well, except when there was an emergency, like severe lack of food or Prince Fergus's men were close. The blonde himself had dealt with many of such threats over the time, but something in the way his guide said "special" told him it would be something quite different.

With this last thought, the two men reached their destination, in front of a metallic door. The other captain knocked on the door and opened it, beckoning then for Takeru to enter. He was already used to that protocol, so he barely noticed it anymore, but a sting of expectation hit him as he sighed and stepped inside.

One of the few places that could always surprise him and take him away from his usual melancholic self was General Avery Andron's office. Only one wall, the one he had just crossed through the door, was opaque, the other three walls were made of glass and offered the most peaceful and moving, fascinating view: the entire Universe rotating as the ship moved. The blonde could see Kalatheia shimmer like a melted orb of pure silver against a pitch black setting sprinkled with diamond dust, uncountable worlds worth of diamond dust, and that was always enough to drown all the angst inside him completely.

That day, the General was sitting by his desk, completely bald and severe-looking, with his back turned to the assassin and facing the view outside too, but he instantly turned around when he noticed Takeru come. The pale, snowy skin identified him as a Kalatheian and the silver short beard around his jaw, as well as the deep-red huge crescent-moon shaped tattoo, gave him authority.

The captain needed a while to recover from the celestial beauty he had just experienced, but then he approached his superior's desk and dropped on one knee, lowering his golden head.

"You called me, sir."

Andron nodded, his icy-blue eyes fixed on him. "I did. Stand up, son," Takeru obeyed, "I have come across a wonderful discovery and I only trust you to carry out this mission, the one that will bring us closer to achieving our goals. Also, I think you will find it to your liking..."

The blonde frowned slightly, wondering what was about to come. "I'm glad I can be of use, sir. What will I have to do?"

The General's eyes glistened for a second while his lips curved in a victorious smile. "We have found the whereabouts of the Yagami's granddaughter. It took ages, but we did it!"

Takeru could not avoid a smile either, at that great news. He asked, "Where is she, then?"

The older man chuckled. "It turns out she never moved at all. All her files have only been hidden from the main Kalatheian Data Base. Fortunately, our men were able to find them."

At this, the blonde's heart began pounding. "That means... I'll be going to Earth?"

The General gazed at him again while nodding. "Exactly. That's the best part. You won't need to wear any type of disguise."

Of course Takeru could find so many other reasons for going to Earth being the best part, but that would suffice for the General. After all, he was devoted to the Luna Group. He shouldn't dream about being with the ones who abandoned him in the first place.

The other one went on. "You shall get there, find her discreetly and finish her off quickly, and as we have planned. You can take that winged pal of yours if you want. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the blonde replied. "When shall I leave?"

"As soon as you've made all your preparations. Which shouldn't take too long, since you'll be using a Travel Ship, making the journey short." Andron got up and came to Takeru, resting a powerful hand upon his shoulder. The assassin could always find a fatherly figure in him. "I trust you, Takeru, because you know how important this is to everyone, and I know I can count on you. Go, son, the Luna Group will be in debt to you. I wish you luck on your quest..."

The captain merely nodded, barely holding back his excitement. "Thank you, sir. I won't let any of you down."

And with this, he said good-bye with another polite bow and left, the reality of going to Earth and a whole new (and pleasant) feeling invading his once troubled mind.

* * *

The granddaughter of the Yagami couple.

To know her importance, one had to know what the Yagami couple meant to the Luna Group and they were their downfall.

Takeru was told this story many, many years ago.

Before Prince Fergus's reign, his father, King Frangus ruled over Kalatheia, and he was a righteous man and a good monarch, treating his people and the planet with respect and justice. General Andron was the head of the Kalatheian Army during those times, and he was the King's most trusted advisor and his closest friend, carrying out his orders and maintaining peace with great efficiency.

Frangus, however, fell terribly ill and everyone was expecting his death soon. The main question was: who would ensue him? As it was mentioned before, the King had one son, Fergus, but although he was old enough to reign, he was too irresponsible, reckless and egocentric.

Frangus, before his death, knew this and wished for the General to become the next King. But an angry Fergus was able to speak to his father one last time and change his mind with a prettified speech filled with lies. Fergus became the next king and the General abandoned the palace, revolted at the injustice, knowing the prince would never be like his father.

As predicted, Fergus was a poor ruler, too self-centered to care about his people, and Kalatheia went through rough times. The General wanted to set things right, and so he created a rebellion, inviting the poorest and worse treated to join him.

This new group dealt many dangerous blows to the new king's rule, creating much instability and frustrating Fergus. So, he decided to act and called out for help in secret. Earth responded, and sent its two best Extraterrestrial Forces, the Yagami detectives. The General was unaware of all of this.

In the meanwhile, the rebellion was planning the biggest attack ever, with the palace's fortress, where many of their men were prisoners, as its target. The entire group was to transport several wagons of boxes with specialized material to help those men escape, but the operation was detected by the Yagami couple and all of them were arrested.

But they didn't stay at the fortress. No, their punishment was far harsher.

King Fergus gathered them all and exiled them to a place that was known for its hostility, for its lifelessness, to a place where ships crashed and its crew suffered slow and painful deaths. The rebellion was exiled to Kalatheia's only moon and one of the most dangerous of the galaxy: Luna. Kalatheia has always been known for its beauty, its moon has always been known for its extremeness. But first, the ruler of Kalatheia marked each one of the rebels with a big, red crescent-moon shaped tattoo, a mark that would remain with them for all their lives and after death, and that would infiltrate in their own DNA and be passed onto their descendents, labeling them as outsiders and outlaws forever.

The General's group didn't have a chance to defend themselves from their sentence, nor they were allowed any time in court. Both Fergus and the Yagami couple decided their actions over the years had been inexcusable and there was only one possible punishment.

Saying the group went through hell in that place is not enough. Saying they felt more pain than ever before would still be so further away from reality. Truth is that stay hardened even the toughest man, the strongest one, the most optimistic. It filled them all with a fervent wish for revenge. The small satellite seemed to be always on fire, the deep red dirt covering the entirety of its surface burning to the touch. Its atmosphere had oxygen, but the air was so hot some could only barely breathe. There was no water, there was no food.

Still, they managed to survive. All because of the General.

He was revolted at their situation and he was not ready to perish before he could correct every wrong in Kalatheia. This gave him the necessary energy to think carefully and find a solution to save the few that survived the first days of their exile. And it was actually quite easy.

Avery Andron had many people with him, many men and women possessing many skills. Fortunately, he had enough mechanics for his plan.

As mentioned before, many ships had crashed on Luna's surface over the years, and most of them were in a good state, despite the heat, unlike their captains or commanders. Using all the energy and faith they still had, the General's group used the still functional parts of those many ships, working with the several toolboxes around them, to build an average-sized ship of their own, although still lacking the more luxurious things, like full furniture and paint, and having poor quality. They survived on the many ships' remaining supplies and even used the existing fuel to feed their new-made ship.

Relatively soon, under Andron's supervision, their space vessel took full shape, strange, but sturdy enough to be able to take them away from that scorching prison, despite all the hardship, the troubles, the miserable state they were on.

Luckily for them, they had been left there for good so no guards were supervising them. But, simply because it would come in handy in the future, before the now hopeful group embarked and left Luna, they left their clothes behind and dressed some unidentifiable bodies with them, with the sole purpose to fake their own deaths.

With that, they escaped their exile, heading away from Kalatheia, for they weren't ready for their revenge yet. They went to a very liberal planet, the kind where crime isn't crime, to be able to finish the ship they created and to found the original Luna Group. They gave the ship the size it had at the present, the technology that made it undetectable, the luxurious furnishing. And they painted on it and on their new clothes the same symbol they had been printed on their skin: the red crescent-moon, the mark of the Luna Group.

The rebels then rested and secretly hired more members, until they were a force strong enough to mean a threat to Fergus's rule. After that, they embarked and left again, back to Kalatheia's orbit, starting with the raiding, the same activities they retained in the present.

Many years have now passed since Frangus's betrayed the General and the Luna Group was formed, but Kalatheians have great longevity, so it feels like little time to them. Some of the original members had children, also marked with the dreadful symbol, and those children were being raised in the ways of the Group.

But, over the years, the General has been occupied with important things other than the raids. He and his most trusted men have been locating the Yagami couple and any of their descendents. They found too late that the couple had already passed away due to advanced age, but they had two still very young grandchildren (a boy and a girl, Taichi and Hikari Yagami Kamya) that could pose a threat to them in the future, should one day a Luna Group member commit the slightest mistake and compromise them all.

Time passed by, but their location was still unknown, and they found that the girl, Hikari, had followed her grandparents' steps and had become a part of Earth's Extraterrestrial Forces too, a major threat to them. Finding her became a top priority, and now they knew she was still in Earth.

Earth... where Takeru wanted so much to go, as to meet others like him, and was now granted the chance, as well as a heavy responsibility. Neither the assassin or his parents were part of the original Luna Group, he had been found roaming about Kalatheia's streets, abandoned, when he was too young to remember it by the General (no one never knew what he was doing there), but he was always educated among them and learned to live their troubles, to belong to them. He wanted to succeed in that mission, to thank everyone who helped him grow up, but another entirely new feeling was associated with that journey... Takeru belonged to the Luna Group, but he maybe didn't belong IN the Luna Group...

But he wouldn't fail the General. Not when he had done so much for him.

As for Patamon, or BatPig, he had a story of his own too. He was one of the few survivors of a planet ravaged by war, a planet where life had been converted into digital matter. Takeru was the one to find him, in a distant planet when he was hiring more members. Patamon appeared and something strange happened to him, making him transform into some kind of angel and defeat a couple of strong bullies. The blonde was surprised and chose to hire him, but Patamon never changed into that beautiful creature ever again, to everyone's great disappointment. He kept talking about something called DigiEvolution, but now Takeru was inclined to believe that it had all just been a fortunate accident. The human was allowed to keep him as his partner, but he hardly ever needed his help. Especially since few ships were safe with him around.

Which brings us to the current situation.

It didn't take Takeru and Patamon more than half a day to get fully prepared, to arrange their supplies and "tools of the trade" after a few (and deserved) hours of sleep.

Captain and... hmm... mascot were now loading their last suitcases of luggage into the Travel Ship Pegasus, which was smaller than the one they used the previous day but was far more aerodynamic in shape. With it, the journey wouldn't last more than a few hours.

"I don't really know why you chose me to go with you, Captain," Patamon confessed. "Especially if all humans are as "melcaholic" as you..."

"It's _melancholic_, Patamon," the other replied nonchalantly. "And you're my travel companion, you know that. You had to come with me."

The orange creature stared at the blonde for a while at this, and then stated, "Hmmm, you don't seem that melca... sad today. And I'm grateful of what you said. I'm glad to come. You see, I even brought something they call "orange juice" to get used to their food!" he showed Takeru a huge plastic jug with the words "Orange Juice" printed on it. "It must be nice. I wonder if they have red or blue juice too..."

The assassin chuckled for the first time in what seemed like a century before saying, "We'll see. Now, please go fill the ship with gas. I think it has enough for the journey, but there's no such thing as being too careful. The jug is over there..."

And the winged-mon left with his orange juice.

After that, the two of them finally embarked and took off, as General Avery Andron lowered his head in a solemn good-bye.

The trip was indeed short and pleasant, Patamon chatting ceaselessly about this and that while Takeru listened with great patience. Every once in a while, his mind drifted ahead of their own ship to Earth, and he imagined it. None of the members of the Luna Group had been there, since it was quite far away and a source of danger, but he had heard of its blue and green color, about the way it glistened like his own sapphire-blue eyes against the glitter-sprinkled dark infinity. And, most important of all, he had heard about how it was the only known planet to bear human life at the present.

It didn't take long for him to see it with his own eyes and, when that moment came, all things he knew about Earth before vanished before the astonishment of the reality before him. They say an image is worth more than a thousand words, and that vision was worth more than a thousand images. The black universe around the Earth lost all its splendor to the sparkling melted jewel orb in its bosom. The Moon was right beside it, pale, mysterious. Much more friendly then Kalatheia's Luna.

"Wow..." Patamon exclaimed. "How pretty... Isn't it, Captain?"

Takeru nodded. "It really is..." he placed a hand on the orange creature's shoulder, then pointing forward. "We're getting closer. They said the girl was in Tokyo, a city in a country called Japan..." he checked a world map that was showing in the board panel and then studied the geography in front of him. "We're in the right direction. And about to enter the atmosphere..."

"Cool!" Patamon exclaimed. "Can I do it? Please, Captain?"

Takeru shook his head vigorously. "No, I'll handle it. Brace yourself..."

BatPig's ears seemed to droop at that reply, but a sudden thought lightened him up and he left, saying cheerfully, "Alright! I'll get my orange juice!"

And he went.

When he returned, the Travel Ship Pegasus was already entering the atmosphere and a beautiful fiery aura could be seen surrounding it. Patamon sat next to his Captain and opened the jug, swallowing several gulps of liquid.

But something was wrong with it, and the winged creature noticed it right away. It was black and greasy, smelled a lot like paint and tasted like a million decaying corpses. Patamon immediately spit out all the liquid in a black fountain, shouting, "EEEWWW!! This is so disgusting!!"

The blonde, who was startled by the sudden activity, had a bad feeling, especially because the smell of the liquid was so familiar... The fiery aura had already disappeared from around the ship, so he could let go off the wheel and, in a rapid motion, he grabbed the jug Patamon was holding. Printed on it were not the words "Orange Juice". No, printed on it was a single word, "Gasoline"...

A spark of annoyance lit up inside the assassin. "Patamon, stop! You're drinking gas! You messed up the jugs!"

Right after he said that, a repetitive, dangerous beeping noise began sounding, as well as a mechanical voice, _"Warning... Incompatible fuel was detected... The ship's engines will shut down for protection..."_

And then the harsh reality of it hit them both...

"Patamon..." Takeru said, apparently calmly. "If the gasoline is here, what did you fill the ship's tank with?"

"My orange juice!"

The Luna Group Capitan had several insults and swear words ready inside his mouth and wanted to use each one of them and all their possible combinations to attack the orange creature. But the beeping sound became more repetitive and the ship was now in a vertical position, heading with an astonishingly accelerating speed towards Earth's (surely) hard surface.

The blonde rushed back to the wheel, but no matter how much strength he used, the ship was just going too fast to be stopped. There was nothing they could do and, after they went through some clouds, the ground was coming closer to them, forested ground...

"We're not gonna make it... Save yourself, Patamon..."

"No, Captain... I messed things up, I will face the consequences..."

But right before they crashed, Takeru pushed one button that might help them: the magnetic force field.

It was the field to crash onto the ground and to attenuate the impact, but the ship still suffered and the inertia made the assassin hit his head hard against the top of the ship, rendering him unconscious. Patamon was nowhere to be found...

The crash had brought great destruction outside with it. The ship was sitting right in the middle of a huge crater, with several burnt trees around it.

The magnetic force field blinked and then shut down completely. The ship hit the ground with a loud thud. The beeping noise stopped.

And then it was all over...

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

That's it for today...

Again, sorry for not having updated sooner, but I hope the wait was worth it. I sure had a great time writing this!

You can still review with suggestions for "What if..."stories!

Enjoy, and see you next chapter!

kathlaida-princess logging out...


	3. Men

**WHEN FRIENDSHIP IS FORBIDDEN, LOVE PREVAILS**

**By kathlaida-princess**

**Summary: **Story number one of the "What if...?" series. What if Takeru were a professional murderer and Kari was his target? Takeru Takaishi, captain of the secret alien Luna Group and professional murderer, is sent to Earth to destroy the reason of their disgrace, a young detective called Hikari Kamiya. But his arrival brought an accident that may change his plans completely, throwing a lifetime of teachings out of the window. A small Takari that shows us that sometimes there are bad things that happen for good reasons. Takari and PataGato.

**Disclaimer: **This time, I just don't own the Digimon characters. The plotline and most of the places are mine!

**Author's Notes: **Hello there, dear readers! I know it's been a while since I updated this, but unfortunately school has kept me busy, and I haven't been to my computer in a very long while (as a matter of fact, I'm writing from my dad's computer right now ^^;). Anyway, I want to thank you all for still following this fic and I want to thank **Aster Selene **(lol, sorry for the many weird ideas. And thanks for reading!), **SugarSpiral** (thanks for the corrections, although I do use many repetitions as my style. But I'll take your advice and it wasn't harsh at all! ^^), **Lord Pata **(such silliness was expected from Patamon xD) and **smile-maker** for their reviews! I'm not delaying this any longer, on with the story!

* * *

**CHAPTER 3**

**MEN...**

A high-pitched bittersweet tune could be heard all around as the violins wept, sharing their melodious tears with the two people having dinner. She felt silent euphoria grow inside her, where her stomach was supposed to be, a feeling driven by the outstanding man sitting in front of her, across the intimate dinner table.

His face was bizarrely blurred, as were all features of her surroundings and even the music, but still she knew he was worth that emotion. The only thing she could see clearly were the candles, whose light gently bathed the progressively empty surface of the fancy dinner plates.

The rhythmic tingling of forks and knives completed the picture, a picture created by his wonderfulness alone and to which she wanted to hold onto forever.

Out of the blue, the man's hands glided across the table and embraced hers, lifting her euphoria to a whole new level. All she could feel now was his smile, his touch, his presence, and all those things made that moment perfect.

And she was about to feel his voice reach her again too, his lips forming three beautiful words followed by her own name a-...

"Kari! Wake up already!"

And all was left of it was darkness as well as damned, frustrating waking consciousness...

Hikari Kamiya jumped out of her dream when a small cat-like creature jumped onto her chest and yelled at her, as if a heavy, hard, hurting brick of harsh reality had been thrown on her recklessly. When the grumbling brunette finally opened her eyes, the feline was still on top of her, annoyingly hitting her face with a soft, green and gloved paw.

"Come on! Your mother is coming today!" she (the creature was obviously a she!) warned. "You won't want to welcome her like this!"

And those words were another brick hitting the young woman, sending her jumping out of her bed for good.

Her mother... How could she forget about it? As Hikari made her rushed path to the bathroom and quickly crawled out of her pajamas, turning on the warm water afterwards, she remembered all the times her mother came to visit, never alone...

Yes... Because, apparently, the 21-year-old woman could not get herself a decent date without outside help, and her mother provided her with that. Every week, at an arranged day, the older woman, who often crossed paths with the rich and the famous of Tokyo, would choose the fittest young man she found and lured him into meeting her daughter, or, in her own words, her "fantastic, extremely glamorous and breathtaking" daughter, who was "very alike her mother" and "unfortunately did not have the chance to meet suitable gentlemen".

And Kari had to agree with her mother on that. But it didn't mean her mother did anything to change the situation.

Every week a new man was introduced to her, and every week Hikari's mother proved she didn't know her own daughter (and her likes and dislikes) at all. Because all those men could talk about was their success, their companies, their money, their balance sheets and oh-so-many things that bored her to death while taking her (wearing a dress that hardly let her breathe) to a restaurant where she almost needed written permission to sneeze. And when the woman FINALLY returned home and told her mother the date had been a disaster, she would always get so surprised.

But why was it so surprising? Was it that difficult to see that Kari didn't want any of that? She would tell that to her mother, and even her father helped her with it, but the older Kamiya would be deaf to their pleads. The weekly visits would go on and on forever, there was no end to it.

"_It has to be her revenge..." _Kari thought, smiling rather sadly as she showered, _"her subtle, terrible revenge..."_

Yes, it had to be it. Hikari proved to be a great disappointment to her mother when, unlike her brother Taichi, she turned her back on the wealthy way of life their family achieved when her father became a successful businessman and decided to follow her grandparents' steps (the great Yagami couple), becoming a detective for the Extraterrestrial Forces herself, obliged to keep her career a secret from everyone.

The young woman had always been angry at her mother's reaction. Her grandparents had been heroes (they saved a planet after all!) and just because she couldn't see that, it didn't mean she shouldn't respect Kari's decision either. Her love for the job she had now had manifested very early in her life, and she felt complete while doing it. It didn't matter if no one would know what she did in life. And she would never feel tempted to live the life her mother chose, and she wouldn't feel attracted to any of those rich/successful men she threw on her. They weren't her type of man anyway.

Kari chuckled silently, thinking about the dream she'd just had. That was her type of man: romantic, spontaneous, caring. And she was sure that, even though her job brought many kinds of men to her (of different species even), that would be the most difficult type of man to find...

Still, she had to endure yet another visit from her mother. After showering, she turned off the water and got out of the bath, drying herself with a towel. And she realized she knew nothing about that week's "chosen one"...

"Gatomon..." Hikari called out. That was the feline creature's name. "Whose company will I have to endure this time?"

Gatomon giggled before replying, her long, spiraled tail slowly swishing from one side to the other, "All I know is that his name his Davis. Davis Motomiya, I believe. Your mother was poor in detail."

"I know. The less I know about him, the less is my desire to run away," she said, sighing. "Thank you."

"'Tis okay."

Fortunately for Kari (who was now choosing the outfit to wear), she had Gatomon, a priceless friend to help her go through that everyday battle against her mother's influence. The detective found her in one of her investigations in Tokyo. Actually, she was sent to investigate some strange happenings on a certain area, and she found out that Gatomon was the one doing them so that she could survive.

After sorting everything out, Kari was allowed to keep her, and discovered that she had come from another planet, one whose life had been converted into digital data and that had been destroyed in a war (A/N: where have I written this before? xD).

Now, they were best friends, and look after the other constantly. And Gatomon being almost like a terrestrial cat helped a lot when going out to find some food for her.

When Hikari was finally ready, she turned to her feline friend instead to the mirror and let her look her over. After a while, Gatomon nodded approvingly, "You look very pretty. Now go make some breakfast!"

And the young woman nodded as well, exiting her bedroom and immediately entering her kitchen/living room. But before she could reach her refrigerator, the telephone began protesting, demanding to be picked up.

Slightly annoyed, Hikari went to shut it up, expecting to hear her mother's voice, probably making sure that her daughter was ready for her to come.

However, a masculine voice spoke instead, a familiar masculine voice...

"Kari? Good, you're awake! It's Rick. We need you here as soon as possible! The most amazing thing has happened!"

The female detective's curiosity level raised off the chart. Rick was one of her colleagues at the Extraterrestrial Forces Bureau and for him to be that excited and to call her on her off day, something indeed amazing happened.

"What it is, Rick?" she asked, unable to avoid the question.

"I'm not telling, you must come and see it! Hurry up!"

"Oh, alright... I am on my way..."

And she hung up the phone.

"Gatomon," Hikari spoke, "Rick called and apparently something amazing has happened... I need to get going. Please call my mother and tell her she can't come today..."

The young woman was actually quite relieved at that. She just pitied Gatomon a bit, knowing she would have to give the news to her mother...

But the feline reluctantly obeyed, allowing her best friend to leave the house in a rush, the curiosity of what happened completely stuck on her.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

And yes, it's over for now ^^ Sorry it is so short, but it serves at just a presentation of our Kari on this story...

I really hope you enjoyed this and understood the story behind the Kamiya and the Yagami.

I'll try to update sooner!

See ya all next chapter!

kathlaida-princess logging out...


	4. An Unexpected Finding

**WHEN FRIENDSHIP IS FORBIDDEN, LOVE PREVAILS**

**By kathlaida-princess**

**Summary: **Story number one of the "What if...?" series. What if Takeru were a professional murderer and Kari was his target? Takeru Takaishi, captain of the secret alien Luna Group and professional murderer, is sent to Earth to destroy the reason of their disgrace, a young detective called Hikari Kamiya. But his arrival brought an accident that may change his plans completely, throwing a lifetime of teachings out of the window. A small Takari that shows us that sometimes there are bad things that happen for good reasons. Takari and PataGato.

**Disclaimer: **This time, I just don't own the Digimon characters. The plotline and most of the places are mine!

**Author's Notes: **Hello there, dear readers! Again, it has been a while since I updated, but I've been productively busy and I was even expecting to take a bit longer to write this ^^; Still it's good to see that things are going fast, then. Well, as usual I want to thank **Lord Pata**, **Aster Selene**, **Daiguren**, **SugarSpiral** and **YamiKamiya** for your reviews as well as all the people who have read this! :D

Now, on with the story!

* * *

**CHAPTER 4**

**AN UNEXPECTED FINDING**

Shuffle. Grumble. Rattle. And finally liberation.

A small figure emerged from a big pile of severe debris with great effort, reaching out some extensions that looked like paws to drag itself forward.

Its petite, orange body was the most difficult part, right before the large orange wings, the long black cape and its tiny paws. What seemed to be its chest rose and fell rhythmically with each exhausted breath, every once in a while a frail sigh joining it.

Patamon had survived the ugly crash that had been their elegant entrance to that new planet with merely a few bruises and, after remembering that he had not come alone, he worriedly began calling out, "Captain Takeru! Captain Takeru, where are you? We've made it, we're here!"

But his only reply was the chirping of the many excited birds around the place of the accident, curious about the unknown vehicle shattered all over their forest.

The orange creature immediately assumed that his companion was still buried under all the metal, rubber and electrical hardware and feared deeply for his wellbeing. The harsh sting of guilt hit his heart. It had been his fault that the spaceship had crashed, what would he do if his best friend had lost his life to his stupid mistake?

In a flurry of sudden energy, Patamon threw himself at the debris and began rummaging through it, milking his small reserves of strength to the marrow in his despair to find the captain alive as he kept calling out for Takeru.

But what how far could little Batig really go when facing such an overwhelming task? About two hours went by with that routine and the scenery was still relatively unchanged and the human leader still nowhere to be found, with no proof of life given from him. The sting of guilt evolved to a stab and Patamon's despair grew in his stomach as hope began to falter.

The winged creature felt himself sit down on the wreckage and brought his small hands to his now crying face, furiously savaging his chaotic mind for an answer (any answer!) for that terrible problem.

However, there wasn't much time for Patamon to think, for several sets of steps began rushing in his direction, steps whose sound the orange being immediately related to his best friend's.

"Humans… Humans are coming…" he rationalized. "Humans are coming and we needed to remain hidden! What will I do now?"

But before he could find a decent reply to his own questions, feet and legs were attached to those steps, before torso, arms and heads. And, with no other better thing to do, Patamon decided to open his wings wide and fly to the top of a nearby tree, scaring more birds.

Fortunately, he made that decision right in time, for the men's attention was far too drawn to the metallic garbage still diffusing smoke into the atmosphere to notice the flying creature passing by them.

At first, the orange being thought these humans were mere highly impressible natives who had been attracted to the rattle, but as soon as he saw them move without the least hesitation to examine the fallen spaceship with the greatest care, Patamon began considering otherwise.

The men (who were about five or six in number) had brought a certain amount of strange-looking technological equipment and were giving it proper use, placing thin iron sticks and watching them vibrate, approaching thermometers to the whole rubble, pointing small lasers machines across the crater or just photographing everything around them.

"It didn't crash that long ago," the man with the thermometer informed.

"It was quite a huge ship!" another man stated, the one with the lasers.

"It must have travelled a very long way…" the third man, the one with the iron sticks, assessed.

"And maybe someone's still inside!" a fourth one protested, one without any form of equipment. "Help me move this!"

Patamon saw all men quickly abandoning their tasks to perform this new one, their combined strength going so much further than his feeble efforts. He was slightly worried that these know-it-all strangers would get to his captain, but at the same time he was kind of relieved that they would rescue him from his chaotic prison.

Either way, the men swiftly cleared their path from all the debris and found a body, an irremediably unconscious body that seemed very human.

"Do you… do you think he's a…?" one of the men asked.

"We cannot make sure until we run him some exams. Help me pull him out of there…"

Efforts progressed and Takeru's body was dragged out of the last remains of his ship. And, as his carriers laid him carefully on the still warm ground, his black cape lost its grip around his neck and left the red crescent moon printed on it showing, causing a visible impact on the others. Patamon feared this.

"That symbol… it can't be…"

"Didn't you listen to me? He needs to be ran some exams before we can jump into conclusions! You two, take him to the truck. The rest of us, let's start loading all this rubble… We need to leave this place spotless…"

And the entire squad began moving again. A rushing-minded Patamon could do nothing but watch the many men as they lifted and took his best friend away, as well as every single slice and block of metal and other matter. In the end, four of them carried a huge block of stone that the orange creature assumed to be a meteorite into the crater the crash had formed and just left it there. It must have been their way to disguise the incident.

The last thing that group left to Patamon was the sound of their steps vanishing and then a low growl of a truck engine as he restlessly despaired for a solution that never came.

* * *

Her heart beat in a rhythm complete off charts as she swiftly ran down the stairs and through the double-door, entering the laboratory where she spent half of her working life.

"Here… I came as fast as I could…" an exhausted Hikari informed.

Two men immediately turned their heads to the new-comer, dressed in their white robes and rubber gloves. Beyond were two long tables with two "somethings" on them, but a thin blanket prevented the brunette from knowing what those "somethings" were.

"Indeed you came!" one of the men replied, with the same voice Kari had heard through the phone before. "We hope we didn't interrupt anything…"

The woman chuckled, "Not at all, Rick. If anything, you've just rescued me from my mother…" Her eyes returned to the two tables. "So, what was urgent enough to make me come here on my off-day?"

"You're not going to believe it!" the other man exclaimed. "Something just fell in today!"

"A crash?" Excitement welled up inside the female detective as she spoke those words. "So, what was inside? A new species? Something fuzzy? With scales? Feathers? Tell me, Steve, tell me!"

That made the man's smile grow wider. "Oh, much better!" he replied. "Care to show it to the lady, Rick?"

"With pleasure," Rick complied, as he expertly pulled the blanket away from the tables in a single movement.

"A human."

Hikari felt her chin drop to the floor at those words. Ever since the beginning of the Extraterrestrial Forces, detectives, scientists and all kinds of workers had struggled to find another species just like them throughout the whole Universe outside to answer the old "are we alone?" question, but they had always failed. No matter how all those visitor beings were similar to them, they could never be considered completely human, whether because a bizarre ability or a deep psychological difference, and that somewhat disappointed the investigators. Could that sudden information just make all those years of searching worth it?

In front of her, laying asleep over the long table, was the body of what looked like a man of about her age (and a very attractive one, might she add), blond, slightly tanned, peaceful and clothed in a peculiar black uniform with a long cape draping from his chest instead from his back. His face and clothes had several stains and scratches scattered all over them, making it look like the man had gone through some problems lately.

He surely seemed human to her…

"A-are you sure?" the brunette stuttered.

Steve let out an impatient sigh, "Of course we're sure! We subjected him to all the tests this lab is capable of and all of them show us he's like us. DNA, x-rays, blood tests, the whole shebang."

Hikari approached the unconscious other and tentatively touched the skin of his forehead.

He surely felt human to her…

"But that's huge! Where is he from, what he's doing here, how did he come here?" she frantically asked.

But Rick cut off some of her energy.

"Calm down, Kari, we still don't know much about him… You see that?" the man pointed to a large metallic shard standing on the table across from the man. "The others found him among a whole pile of that. They deduced that he fell in with a ship and it crashed. From where, we are not sure, but we have a very impressive clue… A clue about that and maybe about what he's doing here… This is huger than you think…"

The woman's eyebrows perked up and crimson light flashed in her eyes, "How come?"

This time, it was Steve to reveal the answer. He grabbed the black cape the man must have been wearing and flipped it over, revealing the vermillion symbol.

"Do you recognize it?" he asked the brunette.

Again, she reached out a hand to feel the texture of the fabric, now a dumbfounded expression printing her face.

"Of course…" she whispered now. "My grandparents… They told me the story so many times… This is what they marked the rebels with… How is it possible…? They couldn't have survived all these years…"

"Exactly," Steve spoke again. "We know nothing more about it, and we're not even sure it is the same symbol, at least he isn't wearing it anywhere… And, although we know he's not dead, he's in a slight coma and he might need some time to wake up. Oh, and we can't even guarantee that he's going to collaborate with us…"

"I see…" Kari murmured once more. "So… what am I to do with all this?"

Rick and Steve looked at each other and then both faced the woman.

"Well…" Rick began, "you know that we don't have the necessary facilities here to take care of an unconscious human…"

"… and you know that me and Rick have that whole romantic outing thing prepared for a long time now, so we can't really look after him or anything…" Steve added. Kari could see clearly where that conversation was headed.

"… so…" Rick managed to say, "Kari, could you please take him home and handle that for us?"

The young detective really didn't know how to refuse that. Her two friends and colleagues' eyes were shooting sugar arrows at her and she had no shield against it. They were right, they had been planning their little romantic vacation almost three months ago (and had filled her ears with it too), it would be too mean of her to do such thing too them.

Well, it seemed like she hadn't much choice…

Hikari sighed, "Alright, I'll do it…"

And the two men celebrated with all the victorious poses they could have come up with. The brunette outwardly shook her head at such childish behavior but inwardly she was actually happy for them. At least the two men had found a decent romantic life in each other. The woman just wished she had such luck as well.

"So, all I have to do is take him home?" she asked, interrupting the others' festivities.

"Yeah, that's about it," Steve replied. "He'll eventually wake up and feel a bit confused, but he won't do you any harm if he feels safe. The most important thing you have to do is to find out who he is and why he's here, then report to us. Is that okay?"

"Of course…" the woman dully replied. "I'll just get his things gathered and I'll leave."

The two men before her grinned genuinely.

"We cannot thank you enough."

"Well, I'll be sure to remember you that in the future…" she merely replied. But she was actually feeling the spark of excitement invade her again, filling her with the knowledge that those next days would surely be interesting…

After some time and with the help of her colleagues, she managed to take the human man to her car and then transport it to her own house. A surprised Gatomon watched this new visitor arrive but first helped her owner to take him to the guest room before asking any questions.

Hikari installed the blond rather comfortably on the guest room's bed, not even daring to change him into a more comfortable outfit in fear of being inappropriate.

When she was finally done with the installation, she took the time to analyze this new stranger. Looking over his restful face, she began wondering what the color of his eyes would be, if they were harmonious with the rest of his lovely expression. And what about his movements, or the sound of his voice? The memory of her previous dream suddenly flew into her, but she wasn't naïve to the point of actually trusting it. Hikari's lips curved into a small smile. This would be some adventure…

"Kari… He is very handsome, isn't he?" Gatomon asked. She had been beside her best friend all the time, inspecting the young man as closely.

Her smile grew.

"Yeah… I guess he is…"

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

Hurray, I did it, I've updated!

And it's longer than I thought it'd be, so be joyous!

I really hope you liked it…

See ya next chapter!

kathlaida-princess logging out…


	5. Unanswered Questions

**WHEN FRIENDSHIP IS FORBIDDEN, LOVE PREVAILS**

**By kathlaida-princess**

**Summary: **Story number one of the "What if...?" series. What if Takeru were a professional murderer and Kari was his target? Takeru Takaishi, captain of the secret alien Luna Group and professional murderer, is sent to Earth to destroy the reason of their disgrace, a young detective called Hikari Kamiya. But his arrival brought an accident that may change his plans completely, throwing a lifetime of teachings out of the window. A small Takari that shows us that sometimes there are bad things that happen for good reasons. Takari and PataGato.

**Disclaimer: **This time, I just don't own the Digimon characters. The plotline and most of the places are mine!

**Author's Notes: **Hello there, dear readers! Over one year to update this one… I have no excuses… My hiatus allowed me time to update all the fics (despite the evil exams to study for…), so here is the 5th chapter for this one. I think you'll be happy to know there are only three other more to come till the end. As usual, big thanks go to **Lord Pata**, **SugarSpiral**, **Aster Selene** (I hope I can surprise you in a good way!), **BagiraXIII** (I'm glad you could find it again, thanks for the support!), **Lin Suzune** and **Kaydreams** for having reviewed since the last chapter, for the given motivation to get this done.

Enjoy!

On with the story!

* * *

**CHAPTER 5**

**UNANSWERED QUESTIONS**

Sleep had been to his body what turning off the light would be to a moth: a chance to let go of all troubles, of all worries, of everything that had kept him so focused, so obsessed with chasing that flame, without even knowing what good he might get from it…

In the prevalence of darkness, of silence, of peace, he had glimpsed his mind slip away from him, but in this lethargic state, there was nothing else he wanted to do but watch it go with curiosity. How peculiar, this feeling, this knowledge of being so small, so insignificant, so easy to fade away, to be forgotten…

He watches, he waits. Knowing nothing else, wanting nothing else, what is there left for him to do?

He reaches out a hand, stretched fingers entwining emptiness, the voidance of his own sad motivation.

How ironic… he had so many expectations…

Unconsciousness wraps his fetal body with a lullaby, teleports him away from everything…

Will he ever wake up again?

* * *

The arrangements to make Hikari's visitor feel more at home aligned to the excitement bubbling inside her made her energy run out too fast. She had used Gatomon's help to arrange their bathroom for an extra person, see to it that they had enough food in the fridge, and when (in panic) she saw they didn't, she had ran all the way to the closest grocery to buy all she needed and more, while her feline friend tended to their slumbering guest.

The detective took the mission she had been assigned with quite closely to the heart, as expected from someone as passionate for her job as she was, but her feelings were divided. In one hand, she had a real extraterrestrial human before her, the very first time it happened in space discoveries, which fascinated her to know there might be people exactly like them out there, in the immense universe. But, on the other hand, this human stranger bore with him the symbol that had represented her grandparents' nemesis once upon a time, an enemy that should have been destroyed at the time, and the possibility of their resurrection scared her…

In any case, all the answers to her worries, questions and wonderings would only be given when the young man indeed woke up, and for that to happen, Kari had to make him comfortable. And to spend her energy in doing so.

Her techniques to wake him up were several, and each was quite different from the other.

The brunette had tried to immerse the guest room in darkness and had lit all the lamps there to their full brightness, with no effect. With Gatomon's (all too willing) assistance, she had drowned the entire apartment in a bubble of rattle (to the point of having several neighbors visit her in rage to stop it while she had a metal pot in each hand) and had tried to keep everything silent, to no avail.

In a moment of glorious inspiration, the young woman even took to the kitchen with her faithful feline companion to cook all the most deliciously-smelling foods they could come up with (such a blow to their recent shopping!), but their guest seemed to have neither a sense of scent nor hunger, even when all the marvelous dishes were flaunted right before his sleeping face…

Gatomon threw herself at the slumbering body several times, like she did to Kari every morning, and the young man would certainly wake up with terrible bruises on his stomach, but in the meanwhile, he laid undisturbed, completely unbothered.

Other creative means of awakening involved singing, dancing, poetry reading, all of them in vain. Hikari even considered calling in a doctor, worried that there might be something more to the alien's condition than the "slight coma" her colleagues had predicted, but her reason soon scratched the thought off. The last thing she needed was a doctor snooping into her job and her business, especially when so much was at stake.

So, at the end of so many hours of justified woe, it was in a state of complete defeat that the two friends finally collapsed onto the blonde stranger's borrowed bed, not finding in themselves even the energy to move to the next room. Gatomon's tail swished from one side to the other slowly as she willed herself to finally give up and sleep, but her human friend had something to say before she could surrender to deserved mercy.

"I am going to make Rick and Steve pay for this… Easy favor, my butt…" Oh, even her bottom was sore from the frustrating day…

Her best friend allowed herself a pitiful, ironic chuckle, and then the Sandman came and unmercifully laughed at them too, in dreams…

* * *

What our hero and sidekick failed to understand was that many times, no matter how many human factors were added to solving a problem, all the solution needs is, quite plainly, time.

And after 38 hours of swimming inside a half-forgotten illusion about both loss and freedom, the extraterrestrial human certainly got enough of it to recover.

He began stirring late in the morning, when he realized the darkness was no longer in his mind, but provoked by his closed, heavy eyes, and he could feel every nerve of his reacting with pain to his every attempted movement (especially around his belly and inside his head).

He remained calm, even though he was breathing in scents completely unknown to him, registering vehicle noises that alarmed him, even the light hitting his cerulean eyes seemed to shine peculiarly. (But why did it all feel so familiar??)

He even remained calm when he noticed he was not alone, his gaze landing on the two females sleeping soundly near him.

Calm, for a while…

Gatomon was the next to experience the charms of a rude awakening, when the covers amongst which she was snuggling were suddenly thrown away as the stranger pulled back for protection, but in between the words of protest, the cat knew she had to calm the stranger down, otherwise who knew what he was capable of.

"Hey, hey!" The young man's eyes widened even more at the talking cat. "Don't be scared, we're here to help you!" she continued.

"What… when… WHERE am I?" the stranger asked, in perfect English, which relieved Gatomon greatly, at least they would understand each other, but still with the same fear.

And then the brunette suddenly woke up too.

"Kari, Kari! He's awake! Tell him we won't hurt him!"

There's a limitation to the information we can successfully apprehend right after we've been forcefully awaken, and rapidly dealing with panicked aliens is way beyond it. Still, Kari immediately shot herself upward and moved towards the blonde, mumbling something incoherent and then a sincere, wide-eyed, "We won't harm you, we took care of you!" before she briskly rubbed her sore eyes.

The growing number of strangers he had to face himself against should have frighten the man further, and Kari truly believed the whole point of making him feel at home was lost in that disastrous greeting, but apparently the sight of a human female was enough to make all those reassuring words fill his mind, especially when his guardian was as fragile as he.

While the young man was standing still and quiet, Kari used her chance to go on explaining, after letting an unwanted, residual yawn out, "You were found not too far away from here… inside what was left of your ship… I brought you here to help you wake up again… and we were hoping you told us _why_ you're here, and who you are…"

But after her somnolence was gone, the brunette could now hear her heart beating so very fast, finally before her _moving_ protected man. Blue, infinite shades of sky were fixing her, drinking every calming word she said. So that was the color of his eyes… It suited him perfectly.

He certainly sounded and acted human.

Gatomon merely looked from one human face to the other, feeling the tension building up.

"Why I'm here…" the stranger repeated, the eyes Hikari had been admiring suddenly fixed far beyond that room, that planet. His head hurt so much as he tried to grasp something inside it, but the answers he sought were long gone in his slumber… "Who… who I am…"

Long lost.

"I… don't know… who I am… I don't… remember…" he realized at last, his hand flying to grasp his hair in panic. He held his head, in hopes that it was just a momentary lapse, but it wasn't… Something had happened, and he was completely empty. Everything was new. Everything was terrifying.

Kari shared the fear with him and, most of all, the frustration. She needed to know what the blonde had to say, she hungered for the information. Unlucky amnesia was the last thing she needed. And in her impatient dissatisfaction, the detective forgot all her composure, grabbing the cloak that was folded over a nearby chair and covering the bed-sheets with it, with the giant vermillion crescent moon glaring from it.

"And this?" she pointed nervously at the symbol, fixing the young, confused man with pleading eyes. "You must remember this, you were _wearing_ this!"

But all the angry red and pressing tone did was hurt him deeper, and he shook his head in pain, "I don't remember…"

Still, the brunette wanted to try again, too stubborn to give up, but this time it was Gatomon to call her to reason, placing a paw on her forearm, "No, Kari, stop. You're upsetting him…" Then the cat exchanged a long look with the blonde, and for a moment pitied his fate, his loss, as she added, "He can't remember…"

After that, the room stood still and silent for what seemed an eternity. The woman was ashamed for having lost her temper in such an inglorious way, with someone so innocent and needing of help, while the man began the process of accepting his condition, although there was so much he might have lost and he might never recover, especially since he was now assured this was, indeed, the first time he met the two females and that he actually lived very far away from this alien place. The feline, however, stood between guilt and worry, sticking to the first when, out of the blue, the doorbell rang soundly, attracting everyone's attention.

Hikari rubbed her forehead tiresomely. Could this day go any weirder? "Who is it now, at this hour?"

But an uneasy Gatomon already knew the answer, "Hrm, Kari, I kind of forgot to tell you this but… yesterday, when I called your mother, I kind of told her to come back today… before lunch… with Davis."

The brunette stood up again in a pinch, anger changing her features, "My mother? And you tell this only now?! Ah, never mind, I'll get that… Just stay here… the both of you," she gave emphasis to the last part, looking attentively to the blonde stranger.

She swiftly exited the room and looked herself over at the mirror, cringing at the bed-hair and the wrinkly clothing before she opened the door, a sense of doom hanging over her.

"Hikari!" her mother's shrilled voice greeted her from the corridor. "Don't tell me you forgot my visit!"

The young detective offered an excuse about dysfunctional alarm-clocks and emergencies at work as she let her mother inside, and the tension inside her doubled when she noticed that there was indeed a young man following her.

"It doesn't matter. Well, this is Davis, Davis Motomiya," her mother introduced them.

Kari had to admit, he was rather handsome. Slightly taller than herself, his tan skin hugged a perfectly-shaped smile on a lovely-sculpted face, while his amiable dark eyes completed an image of friendliness. The picture was topped with an array of wild, dark-brown spikes covering his head, while the expensive-looking suit he wore served as another reminder of how inappropriately she was dressed for the occasion. But Davis picked up one of her hands and kissed it gently, not seeming to mind that at all.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Kari."

She almost felt sorry that she had to turn this one down too. Almost. She could tell it might have been amusing to sit with him through an entire dinner, for he seemed to be one gifted to physical comedy.

But, unknowing to the brunette, inside the guest room the blonde stranger was fighting a peculiar battle with Gatomon, completely certain that he had to do something for her owner, apologize for the troubles he brought forward to her own mother. The poor cat knew how disastrous the young man's appearance would be to both the Yagamis, so she tried her best to dissuade him and keep him away from the door, but her will and strength was nothing compared to the other's stubbornness and apparent practice in the physical arts, and the young man was already by the door before Gatomon knew it.

So, while Kari was supposed to destroy all her mother's plans with a single, well-built and polite sentence, she noticed the alarmingly, very dangerously open door to the guest room and opted for an entirely different (but much easier) thing instead, rendering years of denial useless with a simple, speedy, "Yes, mother, Davis is quite charming… The two of you can go decide when he'll be taking me out for dinner. Now, if you please, I have to take care of some urgent business, so I need you to leave…"

And with no further questioning (but with surely a dumbfounded look upon both the older Yagami and young Motomiya's face), the visitors were sent out and Gatomon managed to close the door on the blonde's face in time, saving Kari from a heap-load of troubles and landing her on yet another one. Why couldn't she come up with another excuse? Well, at least her secret guest was safe… What a day from hell…

Letting out a long, even more tiresome sigh, Kari motioned back to the guest room, before she could implode. When she entered it, the young man was sprawled on the floor after being hit with the door because of Gatomon, and the brunette could feel nothing but compassion for the poor, lost creature, the guilt from mistreating him filling her insides again.

She helped him up, and led him to sit on the bed once more, all the while marveling with how humanly vulnerable he was, all the while trying to build an honest apology for her unacceptable behavior.

The handsome features in his face were misshaped with worry and turmoil, and Kari felt she could not look directly into those blue eyes in fear of being blinded, obliterated. Still, she found the courage to awkwardly speak up.

"I…" she began, "I'm sorry for the way I treated you before… You are lost and I was selfish to only care about my purposes… From now on, you can count with our help to get your memories back." Gatomon, now sitting comfily on her lap, agreed with a determinate nod.

The blonde stared back at them, wide-eyed, and could not find the means to tell how grateful he was to know he was not completely alone in his tragedy, but that wasn't needed, for the two females understood their help was appreciated.

Still, while tugging around his clothes, trying to adjust to a body that didn't quite feel his, the young man found some words on the inner collar of his shirt and, despite being written in a very different alphabet from ours, he could still read the words…

"Takeru, Captain of the Luna Group…" he mumbled, and Kari took full interest on what he had just said.

"Takeru! That must be your name!" she concluded, excited, peeking at the words too. A name, a title and a lead, at least they wouldn't start their journey from scratch!

"Takeru," he repeated. "Yes, I guess it is my name. But I still can't relate to the other words, I'm sorry."

But the brunette shook her head and smiled, "No worries. Hopefully, you will, in time."

And, Gatomon, leaping from her friend's lap to the other's, added, "Yes, and in the meanwhile, we'll have tons of fun!"

That earned her a kind chuckle from the blonde, the lost Takeru, and from it all, Kari could tell this would be one hell of a ride.

She still had to phone Rick and Steve about the disappointing outcomes of her mission and, amidst it all, the name Luna Group strangely set off several peril alarms in her system…

Luna, the only moon of Kalatheia…

_Group_…

* * *

Oh…

Will he ever wake up again?

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

Ended up being bigger than I expected, which is a good thing!

It was awfully fun to write this one, and I hope you can find it fun too!

kathlaida-princess logging out…


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